Yeah we are heading to thailand laos onto Vietnam and possibly cambodia, so when did you go there or are you out there now?

We were in Vietnam in May 2008, and spent a month there. Our rtw ticket was fly in- fly out from the same airport type of deal, and our visa did not allow re-entry, but would have loved to go to Cambodia. Everyone we met in Vietnam also spoke very highly of Laos.
You will love it. People are just amazing.
You out there now? if so, how was Malaysia? we were doing the stopover thing in Singapore before flying to Hong Kong, so we never got to go.
no we fly to Kuala Lumpur end of january we are just trying to plan our route as best as possible (but oviously allowing it to change if need be) this will be our first time travelling so its all new to us and approaching it with our eyes wide open, cant wait to leave the misurable U.K weather lol

We were the same, first time travelling after years of 9-5 in Birmingham, and first off spent 3 months in India, which was quite a shock. SE asia is brilliant though. One thing I regret is not doing the overland thing between Vietnam and Singapore.
You are doing the right thing-best thing I've ever done, got some stories now. One piece of advice- plan as little as possible. Most plans will change when you're out there anyway.
yeah we have just planned a rough route we are gonna go for but not actually decided what we are going to do as such, well not in great detail.

you can try Drop Inn Hostel: http://www.dropinnhostel.com/main.html
$22/night for the dorm. Seems to have good reviews on facebook and tripadvisor.